She lies very still. Too still. Staring up at the ceiling.
What are you thinking about? Do you ever think about that night? Did it ruin you like it ruined me?
The darkness in me wants to corrupt her, mark her as mine and drag her with me straight to hell, and I grip the bars tight to keep myself from storming across the street and claiming her.
I’m here to make sure she keeps her mouth shut. That’s it. Making sure that no one else tries to take what they have no right to—that no one tries to touch what’s mine—is an added benefit.
But she’s not yours and she never will be.
She was too good for me then, and she’s too good for me now. I had to let her go—shove her away so she wouldn’t follow after me like I wanted to follow her. I left her after that night. Left the goddamn country to stop myself from trying to find her.She deserves better than me.
My hands are stained with blood, my soul hollowed out after submitting to the darkest parts of me to do what’s necessary to survive. She’s everything I’m not. A bright light to my endless darkness, soft and delicate to my serrated edges.
But she’s not all soft.
There’s a darkness to her too. I saw it years ago, and so did she. The shadows in her were drawn to the shadows in me, like a moth to a flame. She’s not as innocent as she seems. She foughtback at the warehouse, and I saw the way she looked at Lorenzo on his knees, her blue eyes flashing with violent thoughts, a dark wish for retribution even through her fear, and that makes me wonder what happened to her.
Briar tosses and turns. She hasn’t been sleeping well.
A pang of guilt flickers through me. I hope it’s not because of me.
I wasn’t thinking too clearly after I’d found her. I broke into her room. Iscaredher.I needed to.It was a necessary evil. I wasn’t going to hurt her. But I had to make sure she wasn’t about to go off to the police with what she knew. The need to protect my brother stronger than my moral compass. Fucking Aidan and his goddamn mask. I ought to superglue the thing to his fucking head next time we run a raid.
Briar throws off the covers and I watch her check the locks on her windows one more time.
Ah, shit.
The overwhelming urge to let her know that I’m watching, to let her know she’s safe, overtakes me but I reel it back in.That might not be how she’ll see it.I tighten my fist on the iron railing I’m leaning over to keep me from stomping over there and yelling at her to fix the locks on her goddamn windows.
Then maybe I wouldn’t have to sit out here, watching.
Briar turns back to the bed. Stopping to stare at it, her head tilts to the side in thought.
After about a minute, she climbs back into bed but she doesn’t lie down. No, instead she stays on her knees, the oversized sweater she has on slipping down and revealing the soft golden skin of her shoulder. Her back is to me but it’s the smallest movement that catches my attention.
Fuck.
My heart skips a beat. I should look away, I should?—
Briar’s head falls back as she picks up the pace, building herself up, and it’s too late. I can’t look away. I stand frozen, captivated by the late night performance, her fingers teasing, stroking—her mouth falling open, and the way she bites her lip immediately to withhold the sound.
I can almost hear the little whimpers.
Before I know it, I’m imagining my fingers shoved into that perfect little mouth, having her suck on them while I bury my cock in her.
Her hand moves faster and she falls forward, her back arching as she gets herself close, giving me a better view.
It’s the same position I had her in that night andfuck—that does it for me.
Unzipping my jeans, I grab hold of myself, stroking hard, fast, matching her rhythm. Remembering how it felt with her dark hair wrapped around my fist, and oh, how I long to pull it back, forcing her to deepen the arch of her back.
My cock throbs and I squeeze tighter.
Her hips lift and her movement grows more desperate as she spreads herself wider.
Christ, I nearly come at that.
There’s a growing tension in her hips. I see the way she’s winding herself tighter and tighter until she starts to tremble, in desperate need for release.
